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Discussing the introduction of a new rule governing how advisors handle clients' retirement accounts Tuesday, Labor Secretary Thomas Perez told reporters, "This is a huge win for the middle class."

Supporters of the new "fiduciary rule," which the Department of Labor announced Wednesday, offer evidence to back that claim up, saying that the rule could save Americans with IRAs and 401(k)s around $17 billion per year. Opponents counter that it will increase the compliance burden on advisors, forcing them to charge their clients higher fees and put advice out of reach for smaller clients. The rule will begin to go into effect in April 2017, and it will be fully in place at the beginning of 2018.

If you seek advice for a tax-advantaged retirement account, it's important to understand how this rule may affect you, both in terms of the advice you receive and the fees you pay for it.

The term refers to the "fiduciary standard of care," a requirement to provide clients with advice that is in their best financial interest. That may sound like a given, but currently only a subset of financial advisors are held to such a standard.

Registered investment advisors are currently held to a form of the fiduciary standard by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), but most other financial professionals are held to a "suitability standard," meaning they can recommend securities even if they will cost their clients more.

In some cases, the providers of these securities offer the advisor a commission for selling them. While the new rule will probably permit that practice in certain approved cases – as the SEC's standard does now – the new standard aims to reduce its frequency drastically. (For related reading, see: How SEC and DOL Fiduciary Standards Could Differ.)

The Obama administration and others contend that the current system breeds conflicts of interest. The White House's Council of Economic Advisers estimated in February 2015 that conflicted advice under the suitability standard cost U.S. retirement savers at $17 billion a year.

For example, a 45-year-old who rolls over a 401(k) account to an IRA could see her returns depressed by 17% over 20 years due to advice that lands her in a fund with higher fees, according to a scenario presented in the Council's report. Under the new rule, advisors will likely not be able to recommend a rollover if the resulting fees would be higher than the clients' existing costs. (See also, These Low-Cost Mutual Funds Have the Best Returns.)

But some in the industry have countered that commissions earned from recommending certain investments reduce the fees advisors need to charge their clients. In addition, the new rule, which is set by the Department of Labor, differs from the existing SEC fiduciary standard, requiring some advisors to simultaneously comply with both sets of rules – and fill out both sets of paperwork.

Between higher compliance costs and the loss of commissions, some firms are already warning that they may have to charge higher fees. Depending on how high the fees go, middle-class clients could see themselves pushed out of the market for investment advice and potentially into the hands of robo-advisors. (See also, The Fiduciary Rule's Impact: How It's Already Being Felt.)

Not everyone is sold on the idea that the new rule will drive fees up and middle-class clients out. But if it does happen, savers will not be entirely on their own. A growing industry of robo-advisors offers investors cheap, depersonalized portfolio management. These algorithm-based services have demonstrated their appeal to investors looking for a low-cost way to maintain a diversified retirement account without frills such as estate planning and rounds of golf. (See also, How Will the Fiduciary Rule Impact Robo-Advisors?)

If you assumed your advisor was always required to provide you with recommendations in your best interest, good news – that will soon be the case, at least as far as your retirement accounts are concerned. According to proponents of the Department of Labor's new fiduciary rule, requiring advisors to recommend the lowest-cost option for their clients will save American workers billions.

On the other hand, there's a possibility that the commissions advisors earn from recommending certain investments are keeping fees low, and that nixing perceived conflicts of interest will price some savers out of the (human) advice market. Even if that's the case, though, there's a decent alternative available in the form of robo-advisors. (For more, see: What the ‘Fiduciary Rule' Means for Investors.)